Machine for making electrodes for storage batteries.



' No. 65|,853. Patented June I9, 1900.

W. W. HANSCOM &. A. HOUGH. MACHINE FOR MAKING ELECTRODES FOR STORAGEBATTERIES.

(Application filed Apr. 6, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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' NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. I-IANSCOM AND ARTHUR HOUGH, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALI- FORNIA,ASSIGNORS TO JAMES OB. GUNN, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR- MAKING ELECTRODES FOR STORAGE BATTERIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651,853, dated June 19,1900.

' Application filedApril 6,1899. $eria1No. 711,995. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,WILLIAM W.HANSCOM, a citizen of the United States,and ARTHUR HOUGH, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, both residingat San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of Oalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forMaking Electrodes for Storage Batteries; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of said invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it most nearlyappertains to make, use, and practice the same. r

This invention relates to improvements in machines for making electrodesfor storage batteries, and more particularly to a machine forconstructing the active material in said electrodes.

Heretofore the usual method of constructing electrodes has consisted inthe employment of one of two general methods known as the Plant or theFaure methods.

The latter is more commonly known as the pasted method, and it is theclass to which the present invention more particularly relates. Onegeneral feature of thisclass has consisted in that the frame, grid, orsupport has generally been a plate of metallic lead upon which theactive material has been placed. One of the methods for placing theactive material on the support has consisted in providing the plate withsuitable perfora: tions and making the active material or the materialto become active into the form'of a paste and then placing the paste inthe perforations formed in the plate.

In a companion application for patent, executed under even dateherewith,'we have de{ scribed an approved method of constructing anelectrode, and the present invention is for the machinery which we haveinvented tocon struct the pellets of active material as constructed inconformity with the method there in set forth.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of a machine constructedin conformity with this invention, being partly cut away to show theconstruction of the mold and pressing mechanism. Fig. 2 is an enlargeddetail of the mold and that part of the mechanism therein termed theplunger-head and stripper. Fig. 3 is a side view of a pellet as producedby this mechanism.

The product of this machine, described in the present application,consists in a partiallyhard pellet in the shape of a small round disk X,as shown in the drawings, Fig. 3. This pellet is constructed frommaterial to become active and is provided with a number of perforationsX for the purpose of permitting the electrolyte in the battery tocirculate through the active material or pellet.

' To facilitate the description of the drawings,

are have designated the various parts by distinguishing-letters.

The mold A is a hollow cylinder opened-at both ends. The lower end ,isclosed bythe bottom B, the central portion of which is raised to extendashort distance into the mold A and is provided with a series ofperforations to receive the pins with which the plunger is provided toform the circulation-perforations X. These perforations are madeconeable quantity of a solution of sugar and sulfate of ammonia is thenpoured in upon the dry powdered litharge, these being the components ofthe material to become active in the electrode as constructed by us. Themold A and bottom B are now placed upon the base-plate C of the press,suitable guides being provided in the base-plate G and bot- ;tom B toforn1 an accurate adjustment, for

the mold upon the base-plate to secure the alinement of the perforationsin the bottom B and the pins for forming the circulation-j perforationsin the pellet. Mounted upon the base-plate'G is the press ing mechanism.Thisoonsistsof a heavy screw D, which is threaded, as shown in Fig.

1 of drawings, and extends through a station- ICO- ary press-nut E, andis securely fastened at the lower end by a rotatable joint to acrosshead F. The press-nut E is mounted on suitable standards G G, towhich it is secured by screw-nuts H H. The standards operate as guidesfor the cross-head in its rise and fall as the screWD is rotated. Thescrew D is rotated by means of the hand-wheel I, the diameter of whichis large to give considerable leverage to the pressure. The fall of thecross-head F is regulated by stops K K, which may consist of loosecollars adapted to fit over the standards G G or may be enlargedportions of the standards. At the upper end they form an abutment orshoulder, against which the cross-head F descends and forms the limit ofits downward stroke.

Upon the bottom of the cross-head is socurely fastened the plunger L,secured to the cross-head by means of fastening devices'L. To the lowerend of the plunger L are secured the pins M M. These are secured bymeans of the block N, which is screwed into the lower end and forms thelower face of the plunger L. The block N is provided with suitableperforations to receive the shank of the pins M M snugly. The heads ofthe pins M M, when they are inserted through the block N, rest on theupper side, and when the block N is screwed into position the heads ofthe pins strike against and are held firmly by the bottom to thethreaded perforation in the end of the plunger, into which the block Nis screwed.

By means of the construction thus far de* scribed the mold A, navlngbeen properly supplied with dry litharge and the same having beenmoistened, is placed in position on the base-plate O. The cross-head Fis raised to the upper limit of the stroke, resting near or against thepress-nut E. When the bottom B is adjusted by meansof the guidesreferred to, the perforations in the said bottom are, as stated, alinedwith the pins M M. The screw D being now rotated by means of the hand-,Wheel I, the cross-head F is carried downward, the plunger L enteringthe mold A. The pins M M extend through the soft material or moistenedlithargeand into and through the perforations in the bottom B before theplunger comesin contact with the material which is to be pressed. Bythis means it will be seen the pins are not deflected from their courseand are therefore in position and firm before the pressure is applied toform the pellet. As the plunger L descends from this point, the materialin the mold is pressed into a hardened condition, the pressure being tohandle.

regulated so as to produce the required pressure torender the materialsuflicientlyfirm As stated, the pressure is regulated by regulating thethrow of the crosshead F. If it is desired at any time to decrease thepressure, thin washers may be appliedabout the standards G on top ofboth of the stops K K. If it is desired to increase the pressure,shorter stops may be substituted, or a plate maybe placed uponthebaseplate 0, upon which the mold is placed. It will be noticed that bythus constructing the pellets which form the active, material in thecompleted electrode they are formed or pressed mechanically to an equaland constant thickness, and the same quantity of litharge being alwaysused they are formed to a constant degree of hardness or density. Whenthe plunger L has been depressed to the limits of the stroke of thecross-head F and the pressure necessary to compress the pellet into theconsistency mentioned has been reached, it becomes necessary to take thepellet out of the mold. This is accomplished by an added mechanism,which we term the stripper mechanism. The stripper mechanism consists inthe plate 0, which is perforated to pass over the pins M M. It isprovided with a spindle P, which at the top is provided with a head R.The plunger L and block N are suitably perforated to permit this spindleP to pass through the same snugly. The head R, which is secured to thetop of the spindle P, rests in a perforation S,

in which it is guided. The head R is limited in its downward movement bythe top of the plunger-block. \Vhen the bottom of the'head R rests uponthe top of the plunger L, the bottom of the plate 0 is extended past theends of the pins M M. These parts are depressed by means of the rod T,the upper 1 end of which is provided with a suitable screwthreadedportion which is threaded in a perforation bored centrally through thescrew D. At the upperend of the threaded portion of the rod T is a smallhand-wheel U, by means of which the rod is rotated. As the rod T isrotated, the head It is depressed by it to the limit of the play of thehead R; but when the rod T is rotated in the reverse direction, whichraises the said rod, the head It and its connected parts-the spindle Pand plate O-are not raised thereby. The only office of the rod T is thusto depress these parts. With the machine provided with the strippermechanism thus described it will be seen that the face of the plungeristhe plate 0, and, further, in the operation of the mechanism it willbe observed that as the plunger descends the plate 0 is in its depressedposition and strikes upon the material in the mold prior to the pins MM. The plate 0 and its connected parts do not, however, press upon thematerial, but are brought to a standstill by it, while the descendingplunger extends the pins through the perforations in the plate 0 andthrough the material in the mold below the same and through theperforations provided employed, the one filling the mold in the manplunger L. The operator lifts the mold to follow the plunger until thelower edge is raised high enough to clear the pellet, when the same ispushed out below. When the mold is thus raised, it is held stationary,and the hand- Wheel U is rotated to drive the screw-threaded rod Tdownward, which, striking on the head R and its connected parts,depresses the plate 0, carrying the pellet downward until the bottom ofthe plate 0 is below the lower ends of the pins M M and the bottom edgeof the mold. Being thus freed from the pins and mold, the pellets may bereadily removed from the face of the plate 0.

By multiplying the number of the molds A and the bottoms B and twooperators being ner described and the other operating the machine asdescribed, the operation may be conducted very rapidly.

The product of a machine built in conformity with this invention hascertain advantages over the ordinary form of active material as and whencontained in an electrode. This product is of-an ascertained andconstant density and dimension, rendering the discharge and charge of anelectrode provided with this material absolutely even and constant. Thepellet thus constructed with the circulationperforations described hasthe advantage of permitting the entire mass of active material to becomeevenly and to a greater degree exposed to the action of the electrolyte.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, iss 1. In a device of the nature indicated, abase-plate, a standard supported thereby, a cross-head movable alongsaid standard and carrying a pressing member, and an abutment upon saidstandard adapted to limit the movement of the said cross-head in itspressing action; substantially as described.

2. In a device of the nature indicated, a base-plate, a standardsupported thereby, a cross-head movable along said standard and carryinga pressing member, and a collar about said standard between thebase-plate and the cross-head for limiting the pressing action of thelatter; substantially as described.

3. In a machine for making pellets of active material forstorage-battery electrodes, the combination of a suitable mold; with aplunger provided with suitable pressure mechanism and adapted to beextended into the said mold a predetermined distance; a bottom for thesaid mold provided with a series of perforations; a series of pins setinto said plunger and alined with the perforations in the bottom; astripper mechanism consisting in a plate perforated to extend over thesaid pins and to form the face of the plunger, and a suitable mechanismfor extending the said plate beyond the ends of the said pins;substantially as described.

4. In a device of the nature indicated, a plunger provided with a seriesof pins and having a rod for operating the same, a stripper-plate oversaid pins, and mechanism supported by the plunger-rod for operating saidstripper-plate; substantially as described.

5. In a device of the nature indicated, a plunger provided with a seriesof pins and having a rod for operating the same, a strip per-plate oversaid pins, and a rod extending through a perforation in the plunger-rodand having reciprocation therein for operating the stripper-plate;substantially as described.-

6. In a device of the nature indicated, a plunger provided with a seriesof pins and having a rod for operating the same, a strip per-plate oversaid pins, a spindle upon said stripper plate and extending through theplunger and having reciprocation therein, a head upon said spindle, anda rod extending through the plunger-rod and having reciprocation thereinfor operating the stripper-plate,

said stripper-plate-opcrating rod being alined with the saidspindle-head; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands this 15th day ofMarch, 1899.

" WILLIAM W. HANSCOM.

ARTHUR HOUGI-I. Witnesses:

E. F. MURDOCK, BALDWIN VALE.

